


December 6th: The Icing On The Cookie

by NimueOfTheNorth



Category: Criminal Minds, NCIS
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, ProfilersForChristmas2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 07:51:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8741320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimueOfTheNorth/pseuds/NimueOfTheNorth
Summary: Take flour, sugar, eggs, three males, combine in a kitchen at medium heat. Generously apply chocolate, icing, sprinkles and the observation of a child et voilá: Christmas Fluff.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [ProfilersForChristmas2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ProfilersForChristmas2016) collection. 



> This is actually fairly tame, but the hints are just interesting enough that I wouldn't want a 13 y/o to read it, hence the rating.
> 
> And you might want to keep your toothbrush close, because this is somewhat teeth rotting.

The excited knocking on his door made Tony hurry over to it. He hadn’t expected his visitors this early but he was just about done with all his preparations so it didn't really matter.

"Hey there Jack, no need to knock through the door."

"Sorry, Tony, but we're supposed to make cookies!"

By now Aaron had caught up to his son. "Yes, we are, Jack. And as I have told you about a dozen times this morning, the cookies aren't going anywhere."

"But the earlier we start, the more we can make!" The boy looked at his father like he had missed the most essential thing about cookies.

Tony just laughed. "Can't argue with that logic, Aaron, so better just give in gracefully." He squeezed Jack's shoulder a little. "Come on in, you two. Everything is set up in the kitchen."

Jack got rid of his boots and coat and dashed away towards the kitchen, giving Tony and Aaron the chance for a more personal greeting. Kisses were something they still kept away from Jack's eyes, though they were no longer hiding the casual touches. Outright telling him they were dating was something they were slowly working up to.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but ever since you offered the huge Christmas cookie dash he's been just too excited about it."

"Never apologise for your son's enthusiasm, Aaron. Now come on through, before we're reprimanded for tardiness."

Entering the kitchen they found Jack in front of the open fridge, a frown on his face. "Tony? I think you forgot to buy the dough."

"No, I didn't ever plan on buying the dough. Proper Christmas cookies must be made from scratch, that's how I was taught to do it. We are going to make the dough."

That led to a set of shocked eyes being turned on Aaron. "Dad! We've been doing Christmas cookies wrong all these years!"

"No, Jack, we've been doing Christmas cookies the only way I know without causing food poisoning. Nobody ever taught me how to make cookies."

Jack gave his father a very probing look and there was no doubt who he'd inherited his intensity from. Eventually he said "It's a very, very good thing we have Tony now."

"Yes, it is," Aaron agreed with a fond smile towards the man in question.

Jack broke the moment. "So what are we doing then?"

"First, you have to choose which cookies you want to make from these recipes. We have time for three or four and I think one should be the All-Purpose Biscuits to use all the cutters and decorations you guys brought."

Jack was nodding a little absentmindedly, already engrossed with the collection of recipes.

Aaron looked a bit worried. "Are you sure about making that much? Your kitchen is going to be a mess even with only one batch. You really want to go through that much trouble?"

"Relax, Aaron. I'd be making multiple recipes anyway, I always do. Admittedly, I’ve never baked with a kid, but from cooking at your place I know that Jack is good about following instructions so I'm sure it'll work out. And I don't mind a good mess." He gave Aaron a cheeky smile and was rewarded with a rare and barely there blush.

"Dad, here are ones called Cinnamon Stars! Do you want those?" Jack sounded very excited about his discovery.

"I never had them but they sound interesting." Aaron tried for a casual tone but Tony saw the light in his eyes.

"Aaron Hotchner, have you kept a preference for cinnamon a secret from me? That's against the rules, you know. Always tell your favourite cook all about your favourite spices." He playfully bumped his fist against Aaron's arm for good measure.

"Okay, okay, I admit it. I happen to love cinnamon, so those stars sound great."

"That's one decided then. What else is on the menu, Jack?"

"Can we make the black, white and green ones? They look funny and they have chocolate."

"Sure we can. Better start out with those because they need to rest in the fridge more than once. Anything else you want?"

Jack kept looking through the recipes. "What are _Va-nil-le-kipf-erl_?" He asked, stretching the last word, trying to get the pronunciation right.

"Those are originally from Austria and are made from hazelnuts and covered with vanilla icing sugar. They look like moons."

"Stars and moons! I want to make these."

"Sounds like we have a plan. On to the baking"

Aaron had to smile about Jack‘s utter concentration while measuring out the various ingredients and was quite comfortable staying out of it. Next Tony settled the large mixing bowl in front of Jack and gave him a sieve.

“Why do I need that? It doesn‘t say anything about sifting in the recipe?”

“Ah, you see, I‘ve found that almost all doughs turn out better if you sift things like flour and icing sugar. They just combine more nicely. The thing with old family recipes is that the women who usually made them just wrote down the essential steps because they all knew the little tricks.”

Jack nodded in earnest understanding and began pouring the flour and sugar through the sieve with the vast majority actually making it into the bowl. 

Completely content to watch and sip the coffee Tony had handed him Aaron was rather surprised when he suddenly had a third of the ready looking dough in front of him.

“So who makes which colour, Jack?” Tony asked.

“I want the chocolate,” was the rather unsurprising first decision. “You get the green and Dad the vanilla.”

“Ehm, what am I supposed to do here?”

“Don‘t you worry Mr FBI, I‘ll sort you out in a minute. Now Jack, be careful with the cocoa powder, remember what I told you while measuring it.”

“It‘s really fine and goes everywhere if I blow into it,” came the prompt reply. 

“Absolutely right, but no need to hold your breath, buddy.”

Next Tony came around to Aaron and stepped up behind him. “You‘ve really never done anything like this, have you?”

“No, not at all.”

Tony pushed up the sleeves of Aaron’s jumper using the motion to teasingly brush his fingers along the sensitive skin. He then guided his lover’s hands in the motions of kneading the vanilla essence into the dough and the touch combined with the whispered instructions was very distracting for Aaron.

They couldn‘t keep this up for long without drawing attention so Aaron just leaned back into Tony‘s broad chest for a moment before Tony drew away to add the ground pistachios to his own third of the dough.

Dividing and pre-shaping the dough was a little befuddling to both father and son, but everything made it into the fridge wrapped in cling film.

Jack put together the dough for the Vanillekipferl like an old pro and only two sips of coffee later Aaron was handed that one for wrapping and chilling as well.

“Can we do the Cinnamon Stars next?” Jack looked at Tony expectantly.

“I think we should do the All-Purpose Cookies next because those need to cool down before we can decorate them. The Cinnamon Stars are baked with their icing.”

“Icing in the oven? That sounds wrong.”

Tony had to laugh. “Now that you say it like that, yeah, it does sound kinda wrong. But I promise it works that way, you‘ll see. Let’s use all those amazing cutters first. You promised to bring your superhero ones, don‘t you think I forgot about that.”

“No, I packed them all. Dad, it‘s your turn to make the dough.”

“Why me?”

“Because Tony already knows how and I made two and now it‘s your turn. You have to learn how to make Christmas cookies the proper way, too.”

Aaron didn‘t look too happy and glared at Tony when he barely suppressed his laughter but he took up position at the scale and kitchen machine and ended up with a pretty decent looking dough that smelled lightly of vanilla and cinnamon. And what if he had spilled more flour while sifting than Jack had? He was entirely certain that Tony had brushed along his buttocks for exactly that reason.

Jack tried with the rolling pin but soon gave up on that task and let Tony and Aaron put their muscles behind getting the dough nice and thin.

It was already lunchtime and Aaron put together a few sandwiches. He felt a little naughty stealing a kiss from Tony while Jack was getting engrossed with cutting out cookies.

Next came stacking and rolling the three coloured doughs into patterns for their second round of chilling and Jack was really amazed how they came together from what had seemed so random before.

Rolling and forming the little crescents for the Vanillekipferl grew old fast by comparison and so Aaron was left alone with that task while Tony helped Jack with the Cinnamon Stars.

“I can’t separate eggs. You do it!”

“Sure you can, you just haven’t done it, yet. Let’s try together.”

And with Tony‘s gentle guidance Jack managed just fine indeed and was smiling all over his face. “Look, Dad! I did it!”

“You sure did, buddy. I‘m really proud of you.”

“What‘s next?” Jack turned to Tony full of excitement.

“Now you get to use this baby here,” he picked up a rather sleek looking hand mixer, “to beat the egg white until they‘re nice and stiff - or until your arms get tired, then I‘ll do the rest.”

Tony held the bowl so Jack could use both his hands for the mixer. “Did you know that the German word for beaten egg white literally means eggsnow?”

“Really? It’s a funny word, I like it. Did you know that, Dad?”

“No, I didn’t. How is your eggsnow coming along?” Aaron asked still rolling his little moon-shaped cookies. Just why did there have to be so many of them?

Jack had a lot of fun testing his ‘eggsnow’ by holding the bowl upside down over his face and once that dough was done and rolled out he graciously allowed his father to cut the stars.

Creating the icing that was actually a meringue was apparently a lot more fun and ended up with white splatters on counter, clothes and faces. Aaron was rather relieved that Jack had stayed so focused and on task for so long. The bit of messing about now seemed easily permissible, especially seeing as Tony had fun with it as well.

When Jack and Tony started whispering Aaron smelled the mischief coming but decided to just let it. 

They all shared the task of brushing the icing on the stars and it didn‘t take all that long until Aaron found himself with a generous dollop on the tip of his nose. Jack was giggling but it was Tony who had delivered it and looked rather smug about it. Aaron just gave him an ‘Oh, really?’ look. When Tony started to pout a little theatrically he stepped over to Tony‘s side of the island.

He licked/kissed one of the splatters from earlier from his cheek, leaving a much bigger smear from his own nose and a rather cute blush behind. “Hmmm, sweet.”

The Cinnamon Stars made it into the oven, replacing the Vanillekipferl without any more incidents and by now the whole apartment smelled truly like Christmas.

Jack decided that as pretty as the black, white and green cookies were, cutting the rolls into slices to be baked was boring and he was really ready to put chocolate, icing and sprinkles onto their various shaped cookies. And that he wanted to do so with Tony.

“Maybe your dad would enjoy decorating cookies with you,” Tony sounded a little hesitant.

“I’m good over here.” Aaron gestured at his knife and rolls of dough. “You two have fun, I’ll join in later.”

“Please, Uncle Tony?” You could almost believe that Jack was truly innocent and didn’t know exactly what he was doing with those puppy dog eyes.

Tony gave in, of course he did, but still mouthed ‘Sorry’ in Aaron‘s direction.

Aaron for his part simply enjoyed watching his son and his lover bowed over their task. He had no idea why people used the word ‘domestic’ with such disdain. He wouldn’t mind more of this.

By the time all the cookies were out of the oven and decorated to their hearts’ content the kitchen looked nothing like the pristine condition it had been in just this morning. Most surfaces were covered with stretches of parchment paper and cookies with drying icing. Jack had leaned more towards enthusiasm than focus in the end and so all colours of icing and sprinkles had been generously distributed, even beyond the cookies.

Aaron felt a little guilty about it but Tony threw an arm around his shoulders and declared with a broad grin all over his face “This was the best Christmas baking ever! Thank you guys for coming over for this. Now how about we order some Italian?”

“We could eat cookies!” Jack looked delighted and hopeful at his idea but Aaron shut it down instantaneously.

“Cookies are no dinner food, Jack. But Italian sounds nice. My treat. And while we wait for that, we‘ll clean up a little.”

Jack was pouting more about the cleaning than the no-cookie-dinner. He was also trying to suppress a yawn.

“I think Jack here was such a busy baker today that he should be exempt from the cleaning. How about I put in a DVD and you get comfortable on the couch while your Dad and I tackle the mess?”

“Can I, Dad? Please?”

Aaron didn’t have the heart to disagree.

When Tony came back into the kitchen with the intro music of a Disney classic playing in the living room he stepped right into Aaron‘s space. “This arrangement also allows me to do this.” _This_ turned out to be a very passionate round of snogging with Aaron pressed against the fridge.

They eventually broke apart breathing heavily. “A whole day of having you this close and not being able to do anything is torture, you know that, right?”

Aaron only nodded in agreement. “But I think today went really well with Jack, he likes you a lot. So maybe...”

“You think we should finally tell him about us?” Tony‘s voice carried both trepidation and excitement. He was so very certain about this relationship that he wanted to be open about it, at the very least with his lover‘s son. But he also knew that Jack would always come first for Aaron and he loved and respected him a great deal for that. So if Jack had a problem with them being a couple, it would be a deal breaker for Aaron.

Aaron smiled and brushed a finger along Tony‘s jaw. “Let‘s make it through Christmas and if that goes well, yes, we‘ll tell Jack about us.”

After that the mess was quickly cleaned away and the dishwasher loaded. Aside from the cookies absolutely everywhere that was.

Entering the living room they were a little surprised to find the couch empty and the DVD still playing.

They found Jack in the short hallway, sitting on the floor with the doors to all the admittedly few rooms open. He kept looking from the bedroom to Tony‘s small office to the hall closet coming full circle at the entrance to the living room where Tony and Aaron were standing.

“Hey there.”

“Hey buddy. What’ya doin‘?” Tony crouched down beside Jack.

“There isn‘t enough room.” Jack gestured wildly around him with both arms.

“What do you mean? It‘s enough for me on my own.”

“Yeah, but there‘s no room for me and Dad. And there isn‘t enough room for you at our place either.” Jack sounded kind of distressed about this lack of space.

“I‘m afraid I still don‘t understand why that is a problem.” Tony looked at Aaron seeking answers but only got a shrug.

Jack sighed rather dramatically. “Well, for moving in together, of course.”

Now _that_ had both men stunned.

Aaron cleared his throat. “Why would we be moving in together, Jack?”

“Because you‘re _together_ together and all in love and happy and all that. You‘ve been together since _forever_.”

It was a little over a year but that must feel quite significant to a kid - whenever Jack had caught on to the fact.

Aaron took a fortifying breath. “Yes, we are together and very happy,” Aaron admitted and looked at Tony with a somewhat inscrutable expression. “But how did you figure this out, Jack?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Pwulease… I’m almost nine, not a baby, and you two aren’t that subtle.”

Suddenly, Tony broke out in a full-belly laugh and toppled onto his butt and against Aaron’s legs.

Aaron raised an amused eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, come on, Aaron,” Tony managed between gasps of laughter. “We both work with some of the best investigators of the States and neither of our colleagues has even caught on to the fact that either of us is in a relationship at all. But your almost nine year old son had us figured out all the time, like we couldn’t have been any more obvious. That’s hilarious!”

Aaron was fighting his own laugh but he had to agree. 

Just then the doorbell rang and he went to retrieve their food.

Tony leaned forward and tussled Jack’s hair. “You okay with me and your dad being together?”

“Yeah, sure. You make him happy and you’re cool and funny and you get what it’s like to miss your mom even if you’re not always sure you remember her right.”

“Oh buddy.” Tony pulled the boy that was apparently becoming practically his stepson into his side with a firm hug. “You know you can always come and talk about your mom, to both me and your dad, right?”

Jack just nodded and snuggled into Tony.

Aaron came back into the hallway at that point to catch the next question from Jack. “So, are we moving in together?”

The relaxed happiness Tony exuded made the decision easy for Aaron. “Let’s have dinner and talk about what kind of place we want.”

“Yay!” Jack jumped up and barrelled into his father for a hug.

Aaron pulled Tony up and right into his side to press a tender kiss on his lips. “Is this what people call the icing on the cookie?”

“Probably.”

 

\---

**Tony’s Recipes** **(all Christmas tested):**

 

 **Cinnamon Stars** (makes two sheets full)

400g ground almonds (with skin)

3 ts ground cinnamon

3 egg whites

1 pinch of salt

200g icing sugar

4 ts vanilla sugar

1 tbs freshly pressed lemon juice

 

Mix almonds with cinnamon.

Beat 2 egg whites + salt until stiff, add 100g icing sugar and the vanilla sugar a little at a time to create a thick meringue.

Fold almond mixture under the meringue.

Roll out the (somewhat sticky) dough between to pieces of cling film or parchment paper to ca. 1 cm thickness. If you have a non-stick rolling pin you can likely do without the second layer of cling film/paper. Remove upper cling film/paper and use a small-ish star shaped cookie cutter (3-5 cm diameter). Regularly coat your cutter with some additional icing sugar so the dough won’t stick to the cutter.

Place the stars on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.

Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F.

Beat the leftover egg white to a stiff and add the leftover icing sugar + lemon juice a little at a time to create an easily spreadable meringue. Brush this meringue thick and evenly onto the stars. The icing is plenty for this amount of dough so you could likely double the recipe for the dough without making more icing.

Bake the stars one sheet at a time at the bottom of the oven for about 15 minutes. The meringue should still be white and the dough still soft in the middle. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.

 

 

 **All-Purpose Biscuits** (makes plenty)

250g unsalted butter (room temperature)

250g caster sugar

2 ts vanilla sugar

500g plain flour

1 ts baking powder

1 ts cinnamon (optional, can be replaced with lemon or orange zest or any other aroma of your choice)

2 eggs

 

Mix and knead all ingredients into a dough.

Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F.

Roll out the dough to about 2-3 mm thin and use any cookie cutters you like. Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake in the centre of the oven for ca. 10 minutes until golden.

Leave to cool and decorate with icing and chocolate as you wish.

 

 

 **Vanillekipferl** (makes two sheets full)

280g plain flour

80g caster sugar

200g unsalted butter (room temperature)

100g ground hazelnuts

2 ts vanilla essence

50g icing sugar

4 ts vanilla sugar

 

Mix and knead flour, caster sugar, hazelnuts and butter to a dough and work in the vanilla essence.

Set the dough to cool in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F

Pinch off little portions of the dough and roll between your fingers to create crescents about 4-5 cm long and 1,5-2 cm wide in the centre.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake in the centre of the oven for ca. 15 minutes until golden.

Either let the Kipferl cool slightly and carefully turn them in a mixture of icing sugar and vanilla sugar or sift the sugar mixture over the Kipferl while still on the sheet (less risk of breaking but might need more of the sugar mixture). They become more solid while cooling.

 

 

 **Black-White-Green-Cookies** (makes about 160)

500g plain flour

200g icing sugar

2 pinches of salt

400g unsalted butter (cold)

2 eggs

35g baking cocoa

50g finely ground pistachios

1 ts vanilla essence

 

Mix and knead the flour, icing sugar, salt, butter and eggs to a dough. Divide the dough into three equal parts and add cocoa to one part, pistachios to the second and vanilla to the third. Knead each section of dough again until well-combined.

Divide each colour of dough into parts and pre-shape depending on the patterns you want to create later: flat rectangles to cut strips for a chess board pattern, rolls and flat rectangles of suitable width for rings (or whatever you can imagine). Wrap each part of dough in cling film and cool in the fridge for 1 hour.

Combine your multi-coloured dough as desired by cutting, stacking and wrapping. Brush on a little water where different sections of dough touch to help them stick together and make sure not to leave gaps.

Wrap your rolls/stacks in cling film again and put in the fridge for another 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F.

Cut 0,5 cm thick slices of your rolls/stacks and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 10 minutes and cool on a cooling rack.

These cookies can be partly dipped in melted chocolate (I think dark chocolate works best) for decoration or left plain to better show off their patterns.

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> Aaron, Jack and Tony decorate Christmas cookies together. I think it'll be a funny mess. Add as much fluff as you like.


End file.
